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A Defib Runs Through It
Location: Austin, Texas Date: November 1, 1992 Story On November 1, 1992, Hazel Murevue and her 77-year-old friend, Beatrice Bowles, went to a movie theater in Austin, Texas, to see A River Runs Through It. Hazel met Beatrice after she moved to her apartment. Beatrice was the first friend she made there, and eventually became her best one. Beatrice said she didn't feel too well and went to the restroom. When she came back, she was breathing very heavily. Hazel asked if she was okay and she said she'd be fine, but Hazel took hold of her hand and it was very cold. Then she suddenly fell backwards, began to make a gurgling noise, and was unresponsive. Lisa Gabel and her two children were seated next to Beatrice. Lisa's daughter tugged on her sleeve and asked if the woman next to her was snoring because she was breathing oddly. But Lisa knew right away that something had to be done because her father, who now had a pacemaker, had heart attacks before and the similarity was striking to her. Lisa ran to the lobby and told the desk clerk to call 911. When she returned, she walked through the aisles and asked if anyone was a doctor. Don Richie, a licensed vocational nurse, was the first to respond. He assessed Beatrice and could tell she was in full cardiac arrest because the sound she was making was just a gurgle and not respiration. He placed her on the floor and began to giving her CPR. From the back of the theater, medical student Quincy Ford and decided to help. She did mouth-to-mouth while Don did chest compressions. They did not know each other, but they had the goal of saving her. They eventually switched places because Quincy said it was much harder to breathe into a real human than a CPR dummy. Dr. Mark Gordon, who also happened to be in the theater, helped Don and Quincy with the CPR. He said that even in the best of situations, only a certain amount of people survive a situation like Beatrice's, so he didn't think her chances were good. Hazel noticed that even though the people helping Beatrice were working so long and hard, there was still no response from her. So she began to worry that she was already dead. Within five minutes of the call, shift commander paramedic Bobby Gutierrez arrived on the scene. He found that her heart was in ventricular fibrilation, which is a deadly arrythmia. So she was clinically dead. Bobby shocked her chest with the defibrillator, but there was still no response, so Don continued giving her CPR. Bobby shocked her again, saying that with every second and minute going by, the chances of survival are worse. Hazel started crying, because she was thinking more and more that Beatrice was already dead or would be soon. Beatrice was shocked a third time, but still showed little response, which was not good. There was still no pulse, so CPR was continued. Quincy kept praying for her while she was being worked on. Lisa said that all that was going through her mind was that it would be a miracle if Beatrice survived and was okay. By the time additional paramedics arrived, Beatrice had not had a pulse for nearly fifteen minutes. Quincy said she didn't want to leave because she wanted to see her open her eyes. There were so many emergency workers there that it was mind-boggling to Quincy. Don stopped CPR, got up, and by looking at her face, he was pretty sure that she was not going to survive and that it was a wasted effort. They didn't seem to be getting many results, but then someone said that they had a beat. One paramedic asked Beatrice if she could open her eyes and she did. Quincy felt much better and was certain that Beatrice would be okay. Beatrice was hospitalized for three weeks, but recovered without any serious after-effects. She had a check up, the doctor told her she was doing great, and she felt confident about it. She felt good, walked every day, and was on a diet. Everyone would come to her and say, "Bea, if it ever happens to me, I hope I'm as lucky as you were. The luck of the Irish, why not?" Shortly before the episode was aired, Beatrice got to meet the people who worked together to help save her life. When Quincy met her, she couldn't have been more grateful that she was alive. It wasn't until Don met her that he realized the gift that was given to him. He had recently lost his grandmother and realized he had helped save somebody else's life. "She fought the odds," said Bobby. "All of the odds were against her and she fought them and beat them and it's just remarkable. It doesn't happen very often and it was good to see a positive ending for a change." "It's all like a story that you sit down and write," said Beatrice. "Why would people, perfect strangers, stop and do something like that for you? Because they're great people, they're wonderful. They saved my life. If it weren't for them, I'd be playing a harp somewhere right now." Category:1992 Category:Texas Category:Heart Attacks Category:Cardiac Arrest